Prosecutors In DeLay Case Look Into Ties With Lobbyist

By PHILIP SHENON and DAVID S. CLOUD

Published: December 14, 2005

Texas prosecutors in the criminal case against Representative Tom DeLay revealed in subpoenas made public Tuesday that they were investigating ties between Mr. DeLay and a lobbyist who is at the center of a bribery scandal that prompted another House Republican to resign from Congress last month.

The subpoenas sought documents from the lobbyist, Brent Wilkes, a California businessman whose lawyers have confirmed that he is one of four unnamed co-conspirators listed in the criminal charges against former Representative Randy Cunningham, the California Republican who pleaded guilty to taking at least $2.4 million in bribes.

Mr. Wilkes was close to several Republican members of Congress, including Mr. Cunningham and Mr. DeLay, Republican of Texas, who traveled as Mr. Wilkes's guest in a private jet he partly owned. There is no accusation in the subpoenas of any other tie between Mr. DeLay and Mr. Cunningham, who is facing a long prison sentence.

In the subpoenas, which were issued Monday, the Texas prosecutors sought banking and administrative records from Mr. Wilkes and several of his companies about a $15,000 contribution made by the company to a Texas-based political action committee affiliated with Mr. DeLay.

Fund-raising by the committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, is at the heart of the money-laundering indictment brought against Mr. DeLay in Austin, with prosecutors accusing him of overseeing a conspiracy to violate the state's century-old ban on corporate contributions to state candidates.

Mr. DeLay, who was forced to step down as House majority leader as a result of the indictment, has pleaded not guilty.

His lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, said in an interview that subpoenas were a sign of desperation by prosecutors, who saw part of the case against Mr. DeLay dismissed last week. ''He can issue all the subpoenas he wants,'' he said of Ronnie Earle, the district attorney of Travis County, which includes Austin. ''I'm not concerned about this at all.''

Mr. Wilkes is the owner of the Wilkes Corporation, an umbrella company that owns ADCS Inc. and PerfectWave Technologies, both of which received subpoenas. Mr. Wilkes also ran Group W Transportation, a company that owned fractional stakes in corporate jets and flew numerous members of Congress to events until it was closed. The company provided three flights to Mr. DeLay, who reimbursed the company, records show.

The $15,000 contribution to Texans for a Republican Majority came from PerfectWave Technologies, the subpoena says. Mr. Earle also issued a subpoena to Max Gelwix, who, according to records from the California secretary of state, is the sole manager and registered agent of PerfectWave Technologies.

ADCS was founded in 1995 to seek government contracts for converting paper Defense Department documents into electronic form. Over the next decade, lawyers involved in the case said, Mr. Wilkes formed a close relationship with Mr. Cunningham, who was the congressman from his hometown, San Diego.

Mr. Cunningham resigned last month after pleading guilty to taking at least $2.4 million in bribes to steer contracts to military contractors who lawyers involved in the case say included Mr. Wilkes and a partner, Mitchell J. Wade. Neither man has been charged with wrongdoing, though prosecutors have said the investigation is continuing.

Mr. DeLay's campaign and political action committees were among the top beneficiaries of Mr. Wilkes's extensive donations over the last decade. A report released this month by the Center for Responsive Politics found that entities associated with Mr. DeLay received $41,000 in contributions from the Wilkes Corporation PAC and from employees of Mr. Wilkes's companies.

Another of Mr. Wilkes's companies, Group W Advisors, paid over $600,000 in lobbying fees to Alexander Strategies, a consulting firm that employed Mr. DeLay's wife, Christine, and several former DeLay staff members, according to The Associated Press and reports in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

In his plea agreement Mr. Cunningham acknowledged that contractors gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of gifts, including a Rolls-Royce, and arranged to purchase for him a $2.55 million home in Rancho Santa Fe, an exclusive community in San Diego County.